i love to cook food...shoot food. i love to play with food and i love to eat food...soooo, here are my comments, thoughts, recipes and pics of foods i come across. it might be on my plate, your plate, someone elses plate or my dream plate...

Friday, December 2, 2011

the best compliment in the world came from my ever so fabulous chocoholic mother, who just so happens to be my greatest 'constructive' criticizer...

at first i hear nothing...silence. then...

"hmmmm...this tastes like one of those $5.00 cookies"

these little, or rather large, gems have been around the block a few times and i have made something similar a while back, BUT i have never used this recipe and exact method...and i made sure i used grade A fabulous Dutch cocoa powder. well worth the trip to the culinary store (SLT) to get the good stuff.

like i said...few words. not only do i implore you to add these to your holiday treat list, BUT these are so easy to make, they are a huge chocolate lovers dream AND a big hit for those GLUTEN-FREE peeps that often have to miss out on a good thing.

a few quick notes...

do not over beat. this should be a little runny, gooey and sticky.

when taking them off the parchment...peel them as though you are peeling an annoying sticky price tag off. these DO stick to the parchment a bit...so don't be in a rush with the spatula.

these keep well if completely cooled and stored in an airtight container. do not stack. i put a double piece of parchment in between the layers and was very careful not to put one directly over the other.

in a large bowl, or on low in a stand mixer, whisk the powdered sugar, cocoa and salt followed by the chopped walnuts. while whisking, turn your speed to medium and add the egg whites and vanilla extract. beat until just combined. DO NOT OVER BEAT OR THE BATTER WILL STIFFEN.

spoon the batter onto parchment lined cookie sheets. Francois says 12 evenly spaced mounds...i got 8 per tray (2 trays) and did a second baking with 4, making 20 total. as you can see mine were fairly large.

bake them for 14 - 16 minutes until the tops are glossy and lightly cracked. shift the pans bottom to top and front to back halfway through to ensure even baking.

slide the parchment paper with the cookies onto 2 wire racks and cool cookies completely before attempting to remove.

as stated above...don't rush to use a spatula. these will be semi stuck to the parchment. peel the parchment slowly from the bottom of the cookie.

store in airtight container. do not stack without parchment or something in between.

i know they will disappear quickly, but i kept a couple aside and the 3rd day they were still outstanding.

These remind me so much of a cookie I used to make in the bakery I used to work at! I could never remember the exact recipe, but I know it's very similar to this so I'll definitely be trying these. Can't wait!

hi peoples !!!!...thanks so much for your comments. i love hearing from you. these cookies are FAB...i'm addicted. i have another recipe posting soon that's similar to this. i'll get it out as soon as poss.

hi darling d...sorry i just saw your comment...maybe you already made them, but i like to throw the chocolate and the pecans in for a quick sec in the mixer and then finish mixing it all by hand...oh...AFTER the egg whites.

hi Aprille...i don't know, but i bet it worth try try. i was gonna make some of these this weekend. i used cocoa nibs, but i thought i might try miny chocolate chips. i think the MnM's will hold there shape and color. let me know if you try. hmmm maybe i'll even try P-nut butter chips...hmmm...

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About Me

ahhh...welcome to my little world of flavors. you'll see that my food obsessions vary from one extreme to the other. from nice safe little shortbreads and blondies to spicy chicken feet and BBQ pigs tails. I hope you enjoy the spectrum of goodies and follow Ruby and i on our our culinary trip to who knows where...my thought is...if it looks good, it'll taste even better AND IF IT LOOKS UGLY, I HAVE TO TRY IT !!!

lil' Ruby

*DISCLAIMER

Ruby is responsible for all posts while i am busy in the kitchen and behind the camera. As we all know, one with four legs has no opposable thumbs. She leans towards the hunt and peck method. So please we ask that you excuse any unintentional grammatical errors.